Contact: Esther Bowring, 240-777-6530
Margo Stanton, 240-777-4226
For Immediate Release: August 31, 2001

School Communities Invited to Participate in
National Walk to School Day;
Resources Are Available to Help Organizers

County officials and community leaders are hoping to significantly expand the number of schools that participate in this year’s National Walk to School Day on October 2 and have prepared an information packet to make organizing an event easy.

Three years ago, the Partnership for a Walkable America launched ‘Walk to School Day’ to promote the benefits of walking to school, child pedestrian issues, physical fitness, and a strong community. Several Montgomery County schools held successful Walk to School events in past years, joining thousands throughout the country – and the world – who also held walks.

The goals of Walk to School Day are to help children and adults become more physically active by walking together to and from school; make it safer for children and adults to walk in their neighborhood; reduce traffic in neighborhoods, especially around schools; prevent crime through increased neighborhood vigilance; and help neighbors get to know one another.

Benefits to schools that participate in Walk to School Day include increasing the cohesiveness of the school community by encouraging children, parents, teachers, and community leaders to join forces with state and local officials to promote pedestrian safety and healthy living. Walking to school also reduces traffic congestion and air pollution around schools, reduces the demand on school staff for traffic management, and promotes increased physical activity.

Several Montgomery County schools have held Walk to School events in the last two years. East Silver Spring Elementary School was the first school in the County to sponsor a Walk to School Day in 1999, and last year sponsored a successful media event that included Federal, state and local officials, school children and their parents, community activists, and others.

The Partnership for a Walkable America held the first United States walk in 1997 in Chicago when Mayor Daley led local officials and school children on a walk to a local school. Since then, the event has spread nationally and internationally.

To request a free packet of planning materials or find out how County staff can provide assistance in planning an event, call Margo Stanton, Montgomery County’s Traffic Safety Coordinator, at 240-777-4226 or email her at margo.stanton@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Additional information about the walk to school movement can be found at www.walktoschool.org.